When a single gross puddle forms in say, Chelsea, the community bands together to eradicate the pestilence before an errant Christian Louboutin is senselessly killed. In Chinatown however, puddles seem insignificant when entire city blocks reek of decay. State Senator Daniel Squadron thinks this is unacceptable: a recent report on "ponding" (like "planking" but with more loogies) conducted by his office showed that Chinatown has an array of nasty perma-puddles that just won't go away. 93 of them "had not drained within 48 hours of a rainfall."
Before you ask "why are taxpayers paying for puddle-counters?" consider that a survey done by Squadron's office revealed that 72% of respondents said that "ponding negatively impacts their eating or shopping experience," and 62% said the quality of Chinatown's streets were "below average" or "poor." Councilmember Margaret Chin agrees: "These pools of stagnant rainwater negatively affect the quality of life for residents, deter visitors, and create a dangerous situation for pedestrians."
But how does one fix a puddle? Kindly ask it to leave? "No one knows what to do about it," Squadron tells DNAinfo, and while the DOT claims it responds to puddle complaints from 311, Squadron wants the issue to be it's own category. Maybe Chinatown's new BID designation should attempt to harness the power of the puddles: look for Historic Stagnant Water Walking Tours to crop up any day now.
